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WET AND WILD FINISH TO $40,000 WEEKEND

June 4, 2016

Young Gun Wins Historic Menzies Classic in Wild Conditions

Rain and wind made for a hard fought ride in the 88th Chas Egan Memorial Menzies Classic, the first stage of the Minara Resources Goldfields Cyclassic. Nineteen-year old Darcy Pirotta clenched the win from Timothy Seller and Henry Pennell, who took line honours in Menzies last year, in a frantic sprint finish.

Crossing the line in historic Menzies, Pirotta clocked 2:55:44 (race time 3:30:44), the A Grade pack chased down the other grades and only passing them with 4km to go.

Bad weather marred the final stages of the race however, with 15 riders going down in a crash just a few kilometres from the finish. But the racers prevailed with Pirotta clocking a very fast 45km/hr average speed. The three-time under 19 national road champion is no stranger to competition and said the pace was on from the get go.

“It was like that all day, we had a bit of a break when we caught B grade, but then it was back on,” he said.

“Let’s not forget my team, JML, doing all the work to get me over the line.”

The first woman over the line was 2014 overall Cyclassic champion Rebecca Mackey.

“It was pretty hard, it was just cold and wet the whole way . . . it was still a good ride, but really hard,” she said.

“I’d like to thank the volunteers and the race coordinators, this is one of my favourite races, I’ve chosen this race over (another) because it’s just awesome.”

Tomorrow morning the teams leave Menzies on the second leg of the Minara Resources Goldfields Cyclassic, the five-year-old Leonora Golden Wheels race over 105km.

June 5, 2016

Wet and Wild Finish to $40,000 Weekend

A frantic sprint finish left one rider down and the other the victor in the final stage of this year’s Minara Resources Goldfields Cyclassic. Twenty-year-old Perth racer Timothy Sellar clinched victory in the Leonora Golden Wheels and the overall Cyclassic title after rival Samuel Lane slipped on the final turn into town, with just 200m to the finish line. A devastated Lane limped through in 15th place. Sellar, from the Northern Districts club, finished third in yesterday’s Chas Egan Memorial Menzies Classic, his combined times from both stages enough to win the 2016 Minara Resources Goldfields Cyclassic.

Dome Coffees’ Luke Ellis and Nicholas Squillari finished second and third respectively in both today’s stage and the overall Cyclassic rankings. Yesterday’s Menzies Classic victor Darcy Pirotta finished fourth today and overall. Sellar said his team worked hard to catch the slower grades on what was a very wet and windy ride.

“Strategy wise, once we caught the front markers we just made sure we kept supporting each other,” he said.

“We needed to make sure we kept giving that motivation to keep going through because it was a bit of a miserable day. “I would like to thank my sponsors firstly and the Eastern Goldfields Cycle Club who put this on. It’s always been a good race, so I am glad to be here.

“The last two days the conditions haven’t been too good, it’s been pretty rainy and windy but we just are so thankful that both days there was a headwind so we actually managed to catch the front bikers.”

The first woman over the line was 2014 winner Rebecca Mackey who said the weather tested the riders.

“Yesterday was an absolute shocker but we got through it. Today we were lucky it was just windy and cold, no rain, we were very happy with that,” she said.

“Riding in the rain isn’t that great . . . you can hardly see, and then yesterday there was that big crash 3km from the finish. I was lucky to finish and stay upright, I fishtailed behind the crash trying to break quickly jumped off, ran around the side, and got back on it so I was just stoked to stay upright and finish without coming off.”

Mackey said she had chosen to race in the Cyclassic over a National Road Series event in the Eastern States.

“I would like to thank the Goldfields this whole community for putting on this race. I just love this race. It’s just amazing, with all of the crowds, my team, and my teammates, and my support crew, thank you,” she said.